YouTube MP3 Converter Site Shut Down After Labels Win Lawsuit

In 2016, Youtube-mp3.org (YTMP3), a popular YouTube-ripping site was taken to court by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) with intentions to see the site burn forever and pay a sum of $150,000 (€126,172) for each copyright infringement.

Now, it has been reported that the RIAA has won the case leading to a settlement between both parties which includes the transfer of the website to one of the record labels; meaning this is the end of it and time to say good bye to one of the best known YouTube-ripping platforms.

YouTube MP3 allowed users to convert any YouTube video file to MP3 without needing to register an account or providing their personal or financial details. All a user needed was to insert the video link in the “convert bar” and click on “Convert Video” to download the MP3 file.

According to claims, YTMP3 had tens of millions of traffic and illegal downloads on a monthly basis.

“Plaintiffs are informed and believe and on that basis allege, that the YTMP3 website is one of the most visited sites in the world, has tens of millions of users, and is responsible for upwards of 40% of all unlawful stream ripping of music from YouTube in the world.”

Although, it is unclear how much, reports indicate that the owner of the website is willing to pay a settlement. However, at the time of publishing this article; YTMP3 was online.

Screenshot from YTMP3’s homepage

This is the second major victory for record labels in 2017. In August this month, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) which represents the recording industry worldwide won a lawsuit against The Pirate Bay founders who were asked to pay €405,000 (£373,220 & $478325) to Record Labels.

Waqas Amir is a UK-based cybersecurity journalist with a passion for covering latest happenings in cyber security and tech world. In addition to being the founder of this website, Waqas is also into gaming, reading and investigative journalism.

HACKREAD is a News Platform that centers on InfoSec, Cyber Crime, Privacy, Surveillance and Hacking News with full-scale reviews on Social Media Platforms & Technology trends. Founded in 2011, HackRead is based in Milan, Italy.